Playing in the Rain

"You coming outside to play Mommy?"

She actually sat in this puddle!

Penelope loves playing outside in the rain.  She likes getting wet and muddy.  It's good she is starting young since she'll be trail running and creek crossing with her parents in no time! 

14 months of cuteness!

I really dislike the rain.  In any wet weather, Linda has to stand in the backyard to block the steps so Chim and I will pee on the grass.  More hard rain is coming tonight too.  That means she'll have to  get drenched to let us back out before bed. 

Nevermind

No wonder why the Organic Low-fat TJ's yogurt is so good.  Linda looked at the calorie label today before she ate it for lunch.  It has 34 grams of sugar in just 8 oz and just about the same calories as Cake Batter Sweet Frog.  When something is too good to be true it's because it is.  It might be for an occasional treat, but it won't be in her shopping basket every week.  Guess it's not her new favorite TJ's item anymore. 

Linda tried to put my bed in the hall bathroom last night, but I wasn't having any of it.  I started a low yip, then turned it into a loud bark and finally started shredding the door with my nails trying to escape.  I've had a few overnight accidents on the floor and she isn't too happy.  Tonight she is going to put earplugs in and leave me in there hoping I get used to it. 

"Guarantee I make enough noise that you let me out."

The rain was pounding down about an hour ago and now it's a beautiful sunny day.  Our area is under a tornado watch, so maybe it's the calm before the storm.  She's got classes until 7:30 tonight, so she's praying it won't be happening when she is driving. 

Sunday Funday

After church today, Linda made a Trader Joe run for groceries.  It was sample day, so she got to try some yummy things.  The ice cream sandwich cookie treats were amazing.  The sweet tea was the best ever.  The spinach pasta, not so much (unless you like Alfredo sauce.. then it was probably good.)  Her new favorite thing from TJ's is the organic low-fat vanilla yogurt.  It tastes just like pudding.  With toppings, it will satisfy all her Sweet Frog cravings.

Next, Linda mowed, trimmed and swept-up this afternoon.  She missed last weekend because of rain, so the grass was super long.  She always dreads the start of mowing, but once she gets going it's fun.  Today she did mowing sprints.  She ran every other pass.  On the hill parts, it was a huge cardio-peak.  Since she didn't bag and just had the cuttings shoot out the side of the mower, there was grass clippings in her hair, ears, shoes and mouth.  Also, she saw that the dryer lint trap on the outside of the house was jammed again!  How is that possible?  It must have been stuck in the vent pipe and got blown up to the wire cover.

After, she spent an hour finishing her book by Lee Child.  It's part of a series and now she can't wait to get the next one from the library.  It's been a long time (since she read all the Nelson Demille books) that she has been excited about a series.  If you reading about a super-smart action hero (ex-military MP who can take out 4 special force guys at once) who solves murders, you'll like it.  Just don't borrow the books from Linda's library because she won't be happy if she has to wait to check out the next book.

Finally, she totally forgot she had nursery duty at church tonight.   Since she was in there Friday night for graduation, in her mind she wasn't on again til next week.  It's a good thing she got there a little early so she wasn't too late.

No pictures today, so here are some old ones since a post without photos is just wrong.

Lil' Chimi

Was Penny really this little?

My heart is still sore from missing Noah

CT Olympics  (look at Tier's blond hair!)

Taylor and his best friend Bubby

When I be little (Tierney used to always say "Mama, tell me 'bout when I be little")

Keep Your Guard Up

We went for a long walk with Jerry.  He's had to miss his regular days because of work, but today's weather was amazing and he had free time.  Another highlight:  Linda found some discounted expensive canned dog food at the local pet store.  It was on sale for 90% off, so she bought 10 cans. (The cans have an expiration date of July 2013, but we'll eat them all by then.  Chim and I love the food so much that we were scarfing our lunch down.   Linda's had such a fun day too!  9:00 a.m. Aqua Bootcamp class filled the entire pool; next she had 15 little 2-6 year old kids playing zoo, pirates, ponies and safari.  TKD was also super fun.  She really adores all her TKD students, even the 17 year old boy who is taller than she is.  Today he whacked her in the side of the face during sparring.   It's totally Linda's fault.  If she can't block a 1st Degree Black Belts punch, she should get hit.  Makeup will cover the bruise and she was so proud of him for getting past her defense.  (She's gotten over-confident and had stopped wearing her headgear.  Looks like she'll be wearing it from now on.)

Linda also made chocolate chip cookies for her care team meeting tonight.  She's got just enough time to shower, change and read for a little while before she has to leave the house again. 

Dry Clothes and Cupcakes

Linda is celebrating that her dryer is working again.  It never actually stopped spinning, it's just that the clothes wouldn't dry.  She thought it was the bird nest fiasco, but it was probably just coincidence that it got hot again right after Taylor and Sarah fixed the broken silver hose thing.  (Something about circuits, wires, overload...)

Tonight was graduation at church.  As always, Tier rocked the navy outfit and red lip.  Even Taylor got in on the navy and white band wagon. (Penny and Uncle Josh wore their blue too!) 

Penny is wearing her "there are too many people around face" and not smiling. 

There were so many amazing cupcakes: Key Lime; carrot cake, red velvet, coconut, strawberry, lemon plus many more.  Linda had amazing self-control and only ate one (not of each either!) Guess what flavor she ate?

Linda noticed that it looks like her steps are crooked.  Tomorrow she is going to get a level and check

Pintrest (or huge waste of time site)

Linda isn't really a crafty person.  She's not a baker, chef or artist.  She teaches a lot of fitness classes, but she really doesn't scour the Internet for exercise ideas.  For some reason, Pintrest (which is basically all those things she is not interested in) fascinates her.  For instance, take this amazing rug.  You buy one of those lighted tube string lights and you crochet a rug around it.  Linda wants one so bad!  The chances of her making this rug is about the same as her winning the lottery. (Zero percent.. because she doesn't buy lottery tickets.)  She looks at the rug photo twice a week and wishes it was on the floor in her bedroom. 

She also has approximately 200 recipes and photos of food saved.  The chances of her making one of the recipes is a little higher than the rug, but still not very good.

This is a cake.  What?

Look! On Pintrest you can learn how to turn an old ugly baggy shirt into an adorable sleeveless bow tie shirt.  Linda has about 10 of these baggy shirts and I'm pretty sure they are going to stay baggy.

               This "turn a spare room into a walk in closet" is one of Linda's top three favorites. There are many hairdos and makeup tips, photography poses, fashion tips and cute kid photos.  

There are 100's of fun nail designs and motivational posters. 

Donuts Day

Happy National Donuts Day, if donuts are your kind of thing.  Linda could stare at a box of donuts for days and not be tempted to eat one.  She's probably ate a total of 3 donuts in the last three years.  The same can't be said for cookies, cakes or ice cream.  When she was little, she disliked donuts. Her first bite was a jelly donut and it was gross so she thought all donuts tasted bad.  Later as a grownup, she tried different kinds and they were OK.  She's also never had a hot Krispy Kreme, so that could be part of why she doesn't love them. Lots of places are doing free donuts today to celebrate.

There is a pet store by Gold's Gym that has special handmade donuts for dogs.  Linda might stop after classes and get Chim and I each a treat.